Poultry products win EuroTier innovation awards

An independent expert committee appointed by the DLG (German Agricultural Society) determined the winners of the Innovation Award EuroTier from among 251 approved applications for product innovations, based on stringent criteria.

The Innovation Award EuroTier 2016 in gold or silver has been awarded to 25 product innovations including some products tailored specifically for the poultry sector.

The award level, i.e. gold or silver, will be announced at the official ceremony, which will be held in conjunction with the formal opening of the EuroTier trade fair on 14 November 2016. The trade fair will for the first time be launched on the day before it opens its doors to visitors on 15 November.

Poultry related winners of the Innovation Award EuroTier 2016 are:

Poultry Star: Biomin GmbH, Getzersdorf, Austria

Establishing and stabilising a healthy intestinal flora is an essential aspect of animal health in poultry farming. Poultry Star verifiably supports these important objectives both during the initial intestinal colonisation just after chicks hatch and as part of successful re-colonisation, for example after a course of antibiotics. Poultry Star is a feed supplement specially developed for poultry on the basis of a host-specific multi-strain synbiotic that promotes early intestinal colonisation and a healthy intestinal flora.

Poultry Star: Biomin GmbH, Getzersdorf, Austria

The product’s effectiveness is based on the combined use of carefully selected probiotic microorganisms and prebiotic fructooligosaccharides. This combination is able to increase the resilience of day-old chicks and poultry of any age to pathogenic microbes. It optimises the microbial colonisation of birds’ intestines and improves both overall immunity and performance parameters such as weight gain and feed efficiency. The product received EU approval as an intestinal flora stabiliser in 2015. It is available in 2 formulations for use in mixed feeds and administration via drinking water.

Nutrition Easy@: EW Nutrition, Visbek, Germany

Poultry farmers commonly administer products for enhanced animal performance and health in poultry housing. These can be given via birds’ drinking water or feeds. Dispensing via drinking water is costly and requires high-precision metering devices, while mixing products in with complete feedstuffs in feed mixing units is generally also too expensive due to stringent legal requirements. However, it is to be expected that the use of these products will only increase, as zootechnical measures (such as beak trimming) come to be prohibited.

Nutrition Easy@: EW Nutrition, Visbek, Germany

The Nutrition Easy@ system developed by EW Nutrition allows products to be directly dispensed into feeds with high precision. Additives are offered as aqueous solutions, combined with a spraying system. This system, which is attached to the feed line as a unit, sprays the supplement solution onto bird feed at a rate that is controlled by the feed line speed. It is very easy to operate, and the accuracy it delivers is within the analytical tolerance range defined by the Association of German Agricultural Analytic and Research Institutes (VdLUFA). The Nutrition Easy@ system allows bird feeds to be supplemented with active agents quickly, easily and securely. It therefore supports approaches towards improved animal welfare.

Optima E-Control: Lubing Maschinenfabrik, Barnstorf, Germany

Drinking systems for poultry housing are almost exclusively operated at low pressures. However, pressure ratios within these systems can vary depending on fluctuations in the water supply, climate conditions, the time of day or birds’ drinking water intake from the relevant drinking line. Excessively high or low pressures in turn can affect the functionality of valves in the system, which can result in insufficient water being available to birds or drinking lines leaking. The Optima E-Control system monitors and regulates the pressure in water lines to ensure that it remains constant. This substantially reduces the risk of wet litter in bird housing.

Optima E-Control: Lubing Maschinenfabrik, Barnstorf, Germany

The system additionally allows flock-specific or farm-specific pressure curves to be defined to maintain an optimal water supply at all times. Optima E Control also offers a function that triggers an alarm when insufficient water is available and caters for automatic flushing. Optima E-Control constitutes promising progress in optimising the water supply for poultry. The system enhances animal welfare by keeping litter dry, among others, and helps reduce the production of emission-related substances such as ammonia.

Polytron C300: Dräger – Drägerwerk AG & Co. KGaA, Lübeck, Germany

In the past, continuous monitoring of ammonia concentrations in animal housing and the control of air quality based on the results of such monitoring was mainly prevented by the lack of sufficiently precise sensors that were robust enough for long-term use.

Polytron C300: Dräger – Drägerwerk AG & Co. KGaA, Lübeck, Germany

The Dräger Polytron C300 is the first electrochemical sensor for the continuous measurement of ammonia concentrations in animal housing that delivers both reliable function and long-term stability. As sample gas is supplied to the sensors via diffusors, the sampling process requires no pumps or hoses. The measuring range covers the full range of concentrations relevant for animal housing. The sensor is sufficiently robust to withstand environmental conditions in animal housing and allows ammonia concentrations to be monitored during practical operation. Its data can be fed into animal facility software as control parameters for maintaining good environmental quality and promoting animal welfare.

Poultry is exposed to very high stress levels, particularly just before slaughtering, with the period between animals’ removal from transport containers and their being anaesthetised being particularly critical. Marel’s ATLAS (Advanced Bird Transport Solution from Grower to Processor) system is a modular unloading system that allows birds to be transferred to conveyor belts with less stress. The system is a rigorous further development of the existing container system.

The individual transport modules of larger transport containers are automatically separated into individual modules as they are supplied to the slaughter line, without birds needing to be unloaded at different levels or without them needing to be handled or treated in any other manner. This ensures that the animals do not have direct contact with people after they are loaded. As a result, the animals suffer considerably less stress, which delivers significant benefits in terms of animal welfare.